The present invention relates to watercraft lift assemblies and, more particularly, to a low water watercraft lift assembly.
Current vertical watercraft lifts utilize a beam and platform configuration. This is comprised of two horizontal beams spanning the width of the lift and additional beams spanning the length of the lift to create the platform. The watercraft resting beams (bunks) are attached above the horizontally spanning beams. This reduces the effective usability of the lift, by requiring increased water depth for operation, and as a result the current lifts cannot be utilized at the minimum manufacturer-rated water depth of many watercrafts. This is becoming an increasingly witnessed limitation as watercraft are increasing in hull volume (deeper V-Hulls) and utilizing more frequently hardware such as bottom rudders and inboard and inboards with V-Drives. During low water operations, watercrafts are either immobile or undergo large wear on the hulls as the watercraft is dragged across the bunks due to the watercrafts not being completely buoyed.
Current watercraft lifts that the platform configuration to support the bunks, limit the depth of operation by the thickness of the platform, plus any hardware used to attach the bunks.
As can be seen, there is a need for a watercraft lift assembly adapted without a platform so that it may be used in the minimum rated water depth for the lifted watercraft.